Alabama: registration nears 3 million voters

The Birmingham News reports: Alabama election officials are bracing for an Election Day rush as voter registration levels hit a record of nearly 3 million people.

The deadline to register to vote is Friday. Election officials across the state have ordered extra ballots, hired extra poll workers and are taking other steps to prepare for what is expected to be a heavy turnout.

As of last Friday afternoon, Alabama had 2,934,296 registered voters, said Ed Packard, supervisor of voter registration for the Alabama secretary of state. Many of the voters joined the rolls in the past six weeks. Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 17, 148,791 people registered to vote, Packard said. ...

There's been a surge in the registration of Hispanic, black and young voters, according to state voter registration data.